I bought some 3 watt leds,and they don't have the forward voltage,I want to find the 3 different resistors for running these on 12vdc, by putting all 3 in seires ,just 2 in seires and just one.Here is all the spec. they gave.
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3W LED 80 Lumens Emitter 700mA LXHL-PW09
.
Note each color channel is able to take a maximum of 700mAh of current, 3W rating
A single LED package providing the world's highest brightness of 80 lumens
Ultra slim size, super high luminous efficacy, and low electricity consumption to replace the conventional bulbs
High quality head dissipating base connection board
3W power consumption
Copper base
Voltage Input: 3.0V~3.27V
Current: 700mA
Brightness: 80 lumens (manufacturer rated)
Color Temperature: 6700K white
Size: 0.94 in x 0.47 in x 0.24 in
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Thank you very much.
John
ps I bought these on ebay. from china.

Sceadwian/thank you.I didn't realize that the voltage that it uses to run on is called the forward voltage,so now I know that the F/V is Voltage Input: 3.0V~3.27V. Tks alot,....Guess I should have bought 4 and run then in seires so that I could run them on a 12vdc battary,Right.Tks again, now I just have to find or make a heat sink.
Tks
Johnny

"Guess I should have bought 4 and run then in seires so that I could run them on a 12vdc battary"
NO!
3.0 volts * 4=12 volts
3.27 volts * 4=13.08 volts
In the case of 3.0 volts you will see light.
In the case of 3.27 volts you will not see light. (not much)
This voltage varies from part to part and over temperature.
LEDs need constant current, or nearlly constant current.
You should never run LEDs at constant voltage.

I read the messages.I was planning to build lights with these leds for when the power goes out. I also just tried one of them just to see how bright it would be in a dark room.Pretty bright just with one 3 watt.But it was funny, I tried to just use a 1 1/2 vdc battary just to see if it would light.Nope.so I put another battary in series and it lite.I thought it would be dim with 1 1/2 vdc......I tried to figure out the amps these would use form a auto battary.I also compared it to a 100 watt light bulb.[for useage of ampridge],is this right for 5 in seires.
100 watt light bulb / 120 volts = ~.83 amps:::
5 led 3.5vdc at 700mah =3500 ma = 3.5 amp [I guess this would be per hour.]
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is this about correct.
And I also found out that you do NEED a heat sink.That led got hot.
Im aslo having fun doing it. ha ha ha ha .
Thanks guys
Johnny

Hi audioguru and thank you very much for the reply . So I guess that the 5 leds wouldn't draw much out of a auto battary deep cycle. hee hee
tks
Johnny

Hi,

I have used series resistors for driving high power LEDs with success.
I run them slightly under spec though to make up for voltage variations
and also to extend life.

If you have LEDs that you dont know the forward voltage for, run them up
to their rated current and measure it. You might need a variable voltage
supply and some resistors to do this.

MrAl,,,tks for the reply. but with these so far I think that I will put 5 in seires seeing that the forward voltage is 3.5 or 3.7. This way I think that running off a 12 vdc auto battary they will work ,even if the battary goes to 12 or 14 vdc..Ill use a heat sink for the leds.I hope that it will work.I guess it should.
tks
Johnny

3.2 volt, 350mA LED Golden Dragon LCW W5SM
Forward voltage
min, Typical, max
2.5 volts, 3.0 volts, 3.5 volts = 150mA
2.6 volts, 3.1 volts, 3.6 volts = 225mA
2.7 volts, 3.2 volts, 3.7 volts = 350mA ******
2.8 volts, 3.3 volts, 3.8 volts = 500mA
2.9 volts, 3.4 volts, 3.9 volts = 650mA
3.0 volts, 3.5 volts, 4.0 volts = 800mA
This is at 25 C.
At -25C add 0.2 volts
At 0C add 0.1 volts
At 25C add 0 volts
At 50C subtract 0.1 volt
At 80C subtract 0.2 volts
At 120C subtract 0.3 volts

Do not drive any LED with constant voltage (even the 20mA LEDs).
In this case, you could use 4 LEDs to make a "12 volt LED".
If the voltage drops 0.8 volts the current (and light) will be 1/2!
If the voltage rises +0.8 volts the current and light will be 2X and will burn out! (This is +/-0.2 volts/LED.) This is at 25C and your part will heat causing a 2X larger change.

Look at the TPS61160 from TI.COM to see a constant current application.

Well everyone now has me thinking,My next question is .Then what would be the best way to light 3 of these 3 watt LED's with the forward voltage is 3.5 .I didn't look on the net for any IC's [regulator] with an input or 12/15 and an output of 3.5vdc.This way I could feed each one or get the The 7809 is a 9 V voltage regulator IC . and then feed 3 at once.
tks
Johnny